Last Perth Liberal Ian Goodenough standing fights for survival

Ian Goodenough’s pitch to save his seat included endorsements from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and his deputy Sussan Ley.

Liberal MP Ian Goodenough in his Canberra office. Picture: Gary Ramage

The last federal Liberal MP in Perth has warned members that the party risks losing vital campaigning resources and faces a ­potential battle from an independent if they fail to support his ­preselection.

Ian Goodenough has also ­secured endorsements from ­Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and his deputy, Sussan Ley, as he battles to survive a challenge from former Liberal MP Vince Connelly for the seat of Moore, in Perth’s northern suburbs – the last wholly metro seat held by the party in the west after the 2023 election defeat.

In a glossy 30-page booklet distributed to preselectors in Moore and obtained by The Australian, Mr Goodenough does not explicitly commit to running as an independent if he is not preselected but highlights how the seat was previously lost when the party last opted against re-endorsing an ­incumbent MP.

“Not wishing to dwell on past mistakes, we are acutely aware of the circumstances leading to the loss of Moore by the Liberal Party at the 1996 election, when the Howard government swept to power,” Mr Goodenough writes. “The loss of Moore, to an independent, was a direct result of ­unnecessary division generated by elements within our own party and it is critical that we do not ­repeat the mistakes of the past.”

On that occasion, the sitting Liberal Paul Filing quit the party after failing to secure preselection and ran successfully as an independent.

Mr Goodenough’s allusion to Mr Filing’s move is the strongest indicator to date that rumours about the MP going down a similar path are true. Mr Connelly is understood to have significant support from preselectors, and many believe he is in the box seat to secure the ­endorsement.

Some Liberal insiders believe Mr Goodenough would be all but certain to win if he ran as an independent, given he would ultimately be preferenced by both the Liberals and Labor. And while critics of Mr Goodenough have pointed to his relatively modest achievements in parliament, he is widely considered a strong local campaigner with deep community connections.

Mr Dutton in his reference described Mr Goodenough as “one of the Liberal Party’s finest grassroots campaigners”, while Ms Ley noted that the party’s success at the next federal election would depend heavily on the party’s performance in WA.

“The last thing we can afford in a tight election is having to ­divert precious party resources to support new candidates in seats where we already have strong performers,” she wrote.

“I urge you to support Ian at preselection, confident in the knowledge that this is the outcome that can best support Peter Dutton and I in winning the next federal election.”

Beyond his warning about repeating the mistakes of 1996, Mr Goodenough warned preselectors that the campaign resources available to the party would fall if another candidate was chosen. The finances of the WA Liberal Party have taken a battering in recent years amid heavy election defeats, and twin state and federal elections in the first half of next year will put further strain on already modest resources.

Mr Connelly was the MP for Stirling until the seat was abolished in 2022. He then ran unsuccessfully for the Labor-held seat of Cowan.